In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
John 1:1, 14
These are the images that come to mind when we think of Jesus’ birth in the stable.
I’ve heard them talk of the “sweet smelling hay” in the manger bed.
Have you ever been in a stable? One with animals in it.
A barn full of hay can be “sweet smelling” if it doesn’t make you sneeze.
But put a donkey in there and add a cow, a sheep, a horse and it isn’t going to be sweet.
I have a feeling that Mary and Joseph would have traded that stable for a clean bed.
But that was not God’s plan.
Jesus was born in a stable, in a manger, under the shadow of a cross.
This is a stable.
This is a manger.
On this last day of the Christmas Season remember that He was born to die.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
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